Stapling machine



Jan. 3, 1928. '1,655,275

D. R. LAVPLACE STAPLING MACHINE Filed Aug.12, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jeux. 3, 1928. 1,655,275

D. R. LA PLACE STALING MACHINE Filed Aug. l2, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In. Il /y y 5 Y Z2 54 v v v ,WE/vm.-

ff Wigwam k Qgmmd/@m 74 ff Mpwwj@ vPatented Jan.f3, 1928.

UNITED STA TEs ,PATENT oiFFicE.

DESMOND R. LA PLACE, F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,

ASSIGNOR TO LIGHTNIN TACKER COMPANY, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELA- 'wARn STA1` LING MACHINE.

Application led August 12, 1925. Serial No. 49,714.

This invention relates to stapling machines and more in particular to such machines using staples formed into strips and adapted.

especially for securing tags on boxes and the like.

One of the principal objects of this 1nvention is to produce a. stapling machlne in which the driving of staples is eec'ted rapidly and easily by a powerful springv matically, by substantially rigid moving parts rather than by the agency of uncertain and easily impaired springs.' further 0bject ot this invention is to provide a. st-aphng Amachine in which the intensity of the punchstroke may be regulated in'accordance withr the requirements of the length of the staples or the nature of the base in which said staples are to be driven. Still another object of this invention is to provide a stapling machine which is simple in construction and operation and which can be manufactured at relatively low cost. Additional features.

3o and advantages of this invention will appear from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this application and in whichztion, depicting my stapling machine, with one half of the housing removed.

' Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the stapling machine, and '40 F ig. 3 is a bottom plan view thereof.-

Fig. 4 shows a front elevation of the complete machine, used in connection with an anvil and guiding tool.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the plungeri5 punch of the machine.

, Fig. 6 is a top plan view of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a section through^the punch, taken Online 7-7 in Fig. 5.

Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively the top, plan view and the side elevation fot the push-finger of the stapling machine.

Figs. 10 and 11 show the side elevation and the top plan yiew of the lateral catchingers used in my machine.

1 is a side elevation, partly in sec-,

Fig. 12 is a fractional perspective view'lof the strip carrying-bar with'a short portion of the staple-strip.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the anvil and guide-tool which may be used in con# -nection` with the' stapling machine.

1 Fig. 14 is a detail line 14.-14 in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings,

cross section taken on my stapling machine is composed of the housing 1 formed of two substantially symmetrical halves lEL and 1b which are held together by a suitable number of screws 2 and which lare provided at the rear with oblong openings 8 producing the grip-handle 3.- Said halves are thickened at the front end and are suitably 'apertured to provide room for the .plunger-punch 4 and the compression leverwhich the operating l `spring 5 by means of lever 6 is automatically returned to the open or raised position shown in Fig. 1.

The operating-lever is vroclrably mounted on al fulcrum-pinf? ,and comprises a web portion 8, which engages a space 9 formed between the body-halves, and a top or saddle 10 formed integrally with the web and which is suitably shapedand rounded ott' to lafford a convenient grip for the operators hand. rlhe web portion has at its rear end an integral extension 11 acting as a guide for the operating-lever and at the front end a 'leg 12 terminating with a :toot 13.

Rockablymounted upon the foot 12, on a fulcrum pin 14, is the pawl 15 which is preferably made of a piece of bent material to engage both sides of the foot, and which possesses a pointed nose 16 and a heel 17 terminated by the* rounded oii1 protuberances or lobes 18. A coil-spring 19, partly inserted in an aperture 2O provided inthe foot 13, is used to push said nose normally under the shoulder 56 on the plunger. In the foot is also providedan arcuate slot /21 of suitable length and concentric with the fulcrum 7 of the operating-lever. rlhis'slot is engaged by the trigger-pin 22 the function Iof which is to' strike said lobes and cause the' pawl to move in a, clockwise sense when the operating-lever is pressed down a Sufficient amount, for a'purpose to be described later.

there is provided a guide for the lever drieal guide member .424 and the reduced punch which has the irregular cruciform cross section, shown in Fig. 7, as consisting of the narrow ribs 26, the wide stitening rib 27, at the front, and the rear rib 28. The latter is partly cut away at the lower end to produce the cutting-edge 29 whereby the individual staples 30 are sheared off the staple-strip 31. These ribs slide in suitably shaped grooves provided in both halves of the housing and their purpose is to prevent the rotation of the plunger-punch. The guide-member 24 slides in the cylindrical aperture 32 and is centrally bored to provide a seat for the lower end of the power-spring 33, `the upper end of which occupies an aperture34 provided in the outwardly threaded cap 35 which engages threads36 cut in the said aperture to a suitable depth to allow a certain adjustment of the compression of said spring.

The staple-strip 31 is inserted into the machine at the rear in an opening 37 and straddles the staple carrying bar 38 which .is securely held'in the space 9, flush with the bottom-39 of the machine, by the two lower clamping screws 2, and by means of the guide-ribs 40 provided on both sides of the guide-bar and engaging suitable grooves 41 cut in each half of the housing. This carrying-bar is preferably. provided with a flat ridge 42, upon which the staple-strip rests,

and with a cutting-edge 43 which is properly hardened to withstand the wear due t0 the'shearing of the staples.-

The automatic shifting mechanism for the staple-strip consists of a stiff steel push-pin 44 which is securely held in the leg 12 of the operating-lever, said pin engaging an oblong slot 45 cut on the bridge portion 46 of the push-finger 47. The latter is made up of a substantially rigid piece of sheet metalv having at the rear two parallel wings 48 and at the front two claws which are adapted to straddle the spine 50 of the staple-strip 31 and the function ofwhich is to engage the open spaces 51 provided between the individual staples to push the staple-strip forward when the voperating-lever is pressed down. In each of the wings 48 there is'an oblong slot 52 which is engaged by a pin 53 ls ecured in both halves of the housing by riveting, or otherwise.

The length of the slots 52 is such that said pin will limit the forward shifting of the push-finger to advance the staple-strip but'one staple at a time. Although. as stated above. the pin 44 is relatively stiff, it possesses suflicient resiliency to permit the compression of the operating-lever a sufficient amountpast that required to push the staple-strip one staple ahead to produce an elastic stop for the operating-lever. This is done to considerably reduce the fatigue which would otherwise occur, were the movement of the lever to bev arrested abruptly, such as by an unyielding sto IIii the construction shown in Fig. 14, especially, the trigger-pin 22 is supplied with a cam 54 and is rotatably mounted in the bearings 55 provided in both halves ofthe housing. This cam engages one of the lobes 18 of the pawl 15 and the time `of Contact may be regulated by turning the` triggerpin so that the nose of said pawl will leave the shoulder 56 on the plunger-punch 4 sooner or later, thus regulating the length of the latters stroke and its intensity. To maintain a certain adjustment, the triggerpin is preferably provided with a resilient handle 57 which is adapted to engage suitablev notches 58 provided in the arcuate rib 59 cast outwardly of the housing-half 1b, thereby preventing any undesired rotation of the trigger-pin.

The staple-strip is additionally guided and held against retrogression by means of the lateral resilient catch-fingers 6() provided on both sides of the carrying-bar 38 and acting near the cutting edge of the latter. Each catch-finger comprises the hori- Zontal resilient arm 61 and the downwardly directed vertical finger 62 in which is produced a struck-up lug G3 adapted to engage one of the open spaces 51 in the staple-strip, adjacent the front end of the latter. The front edge of said finger is also bent at right angles to form a rib 64 which acts as a guide for the foremost staple and enables the latter to be sheared oft' and driven-in straight by the plunger-punch. The catch-fingers are secured to -their respective housinghalves by means of rivets 65 inserted in apertures 65 cut at the end of the arm G1.

In line with the staple-strip and carryingbar there is provided at the front of the housing a sight-hole GG to enable an operator to judge whether or not the staplingmachine is loaded.

My stapling machine may be used for. staphng together the variousI sides of boxes' made of cardboard or other thin and soft material. ln this case, provisions must be made to bend the ends ot the staples over the material to be secured.

The device used for thefpurpose is shown especially in Fig. 13 and is called the anvil.

It is made of a rigid strip of steel bent in the manner shown and having provided at its upper part 67 an elongated slot 68 of sufcient width to receive therein the base ot the stapling machine and whereby the latter is guided for lengthwise movement. The lower part 69 of the anvil is solid and is supplied with a longitudinal flat groove 70 of ample width to accommodate the two Vlegs of the staple.' The corners of this groove are rounded off, as shown by the numeral 71, for the purpose of giving the staple-legs the required inward bend which permits them to be clamped underneath the lower side of the box to Kbe sta led.

Assuming that the two ila-ps 2 and 7 3 of a cardboard box are to be stapled together,

, they are folded over each other and inserted between the anvil-tool as indicated in Fig. 4. The stapling-machine is now placed within the guide-slot 68 and the staples are drivenin on a straight line. If desired, the fingers 74 and 75 of the anvil-tool may be provided with a depression 76 adjacent their ends for the purpose of more firmly clamping the anvil to the flaps and prevent it shifting while the stapling machine is operated.

Reference being had to the various drawings, the operation of my stapling machine will be readily understood and may be brieiiy stated to be. as follows z-Assuming that a staple-strip has been fed into the machine, the operating-lever is' depressed, the foot 13 and the pawl 15 are raised 'and the nose of the latter engages the shoulder 56 whereby the plunger-punch is lifted and the 'powerspring 33 compressed far enough for the eutting-edge of the plunger to raise abovethe top of the staple-strip. By this time4 the push-pin 44 has swung around so as to contact with t-he forward end of the slot 45 and, on further motion of the operating lever, the push-finger 47 is pushed forward as far as the slot 52 will allow, thereby feeding the staple-strip ,one staple ahead. Shortly after, the lobe 18 strikes the trigger-pin 22 thereby imparting to the pawl a clockwise rotation which causes the nose 16 to leave the shoulder 56. rlthe plunger-punch is now free and forced suddenly downward by the powerspring, thus shearing off the first staple and driving it in place. rlhe grip on the operating-lever is now released so that the latter may again return to the normal, or open, po-

sition show'n in Fig. 1, due to the action of the/lever-spring 5. A. similar movement is, of course, imparted to the push-pin 44 which shoves the push-linger back into its original position rlhe same performance may be' repeated until the supply of staples is exhausted. As already explained, any retrogression of the staple-strip will be prevented by the catch-fingers 60.

As will be understood, as suggested herein, there may be slight changes made in the construction and `arrangement of the details of m invention without de artinv from-the' field and scope of the same and l intend to include all'such variations, as fall wit-hin,

the scope of the appended claims, in this application in which the preferred forms only of my invention are disclosed.

l. ln a staple-machine, the combination of a'housing'; a staple carrying bar; a plungery punch; afpower-spring normally pressing against the latter; meansto vary the pres- .sure of said power-spring; avpivoted operating-lever adapted to operate in said housing;

unitary means for lifting and subsequently releasing said plunger-punch by pressing said operating-lever; resilient means for returning said operating-lever into inoperative position, and means to regulate the stroke of said plunger-punch.

2. ln a `staple-machine, the combination of a housing; a staple carrying bar; a plunger-punch; a power-spring normally pressing against the latter; means to vary the pressure of said power-spring; a pivoted operating-lever adapted to operate in said hous unitary means for lifting and subse- `quently releasing said plunger-punch by of said plunger-punch, and guiding means to prevent the rotation ofthe same.

4. lln combination with a stapling machine of the character described, a removable guide-tool formed of a til-shaped piece of material and comprising a pair of parallel legs inspaced relation adapted to receive therebetween the material to be stapled together, and parallel guides provided in one of saidlegs'to guide said machine for longitudinal movement..

5. ln combination with astapling machine of the character described, a removable guide-tool formed of a U-shapedy piece of material and` comprising a pair of parallel legs in spaced relation adapted to receive therebetween the material to be stapled together; parallel guides provided in ene of said legs to guide said machine for longitudinal movement, and means provided in the other leg for folding over said material the legs of the staple driven therethrough.

6. ln combination with a stapling machine of the character described, a removable guide-tool formed of a lol-shaped piece of material and comprising a pair of parallel legs in spaced relation adapted to receive therebetween the material to be stapled together, and parallel guides provided in one of said legs to guide said machine for longirtudmal movement, said guides having depressions formed adjacent their open ends to exert increased pressure thereat on the material to be stapledtogether. Y

7. ln a staplng machine, the combination dit@ of a housing; a staple carrying bar; means for feeding a staple-strip; means for shearing and driving the individual staples, and resilient catch-fingers each having one end lixedly mounted on said .frame and having the other end free and adapted to move inwardly so as to engage from the outside the legs of the foremost staple of said staplestrip to hold said staple against turning during the shearing operation and to simultaneously engage from the outside a staple behind the foremost staple to prevent retrograde mov-ement of saidstaple-strip.

8. ln a stapling machine, the combination of a housing formed of two substantially symmetrical halves; means for removably securing said halves together; means for feeding a staple-strip; means for shearing and driving rthe individual staples of said strip, and two resilient catch-fingers each positioned outwardly of and at each side of said staple-strip; each cateli-finger having one end -ixedly mounted on the adjacent frame-half and having the other end free and adapted to normally engage from the outside one leg of the'foremost staple of the staple-strip to hold said staple against turninO' dur-ino' tie ,shearing o eration and to TJ D D simultaneously engage from the outside a staple behind the foremost staple to prevent retrograde movement of the vstaple-strip.

9. In a stapling machine, the combination of a housing formed of two substantially symmetrical halves; means for removably securing said halves together; means for feeding a staple-strip; means of shearing and driving the individual staples of said strip, and two substantially L-shaped catch fingers each positioned outwardly of and at each side of said staple-strip;` each catchfinger consisting of a resilient and substan tially horizontal arm having at its forward end a vertical downwardly directed rigid linger bent inwardly to produce a rib, said arm being secured at the" rear end to the adjacent frame-half and being forwardly and .inwardly deflected to cause said rib to engage from the outside a leg of the foremost staple of said staple-strip to hold said i staple against turning during the shearing operation, and a lug struck up in each catchfinger for engaging from the Outside a staple behind said foremost staple-to prevent retrograde movement of the staple-strip.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature'.

DESMOND R. LA. PLACE. 

